Qantas has been frequently accused of greed and incompetence, putting shareholders above flyers, especially since COVID. It’s worth looking at some of the potential reasons for this.
During COVID, Qantas received ~$900M in job seeker wage subsidies for staff. This wasn’t kept by the company and allowed them to continue paying their employees. They received ~$1.2 Billion as payment for flying nearly empty planes to ensure essential travel could continue and to repatriate Australians stuck overseas. In total, Qantas received $2.7 Billion in government money.
In 2023, Qatar airways was blocked from adding 28 new routes to Australian cities. This would have increased competition for Qantas and almost certainly reduced airfares.
It is worth considering if instead Qantas should have received nothing. The company has since recovered and is now profitable again. Why were Australian taxpayers asked to bail them out? Why were Qantas’ interests taken over Australian air travellers’ interests?